Planning for the training, called "To Protect and Serve in the 21st Century: Building Bridges with Diverse Communities," began even before the death of Michael Brown last August in Ferguson, Mo., said Tina Nixon, YWCA executive director.

The first session in February was attended by 70 officers in more than a dozen jurisdictions in Cumberland and Dauphin counties. The next training session this month has 60 officers enrolled, and a third will be held in April. Police pay only a $25 fee to cover meals, and the presenters are volunteers.

The training grew out of the "Let's Talk: A Conversation about Race" series the YWCA began offering last February, which is held quarterly.

The police training, which includes presentations from minority community members, is intended to increase officers' safety and effectiveness as they grow in understanding the community they protect and serve, Nixon said.

Cultures represented on the panel include those from Asian and African countries, Latino and African-American communities, Muslim and Arab communities, people with disabilities and the LGBT community.

Officers are learning about how to prevent and respond to hate crimes and groups, appropriate language to use in addressing minority communities, techniques to avoid racial profiling and civil rights law.

Umberger said he has received "mixed" feedback from his officers who attended the training. "All in all it's been good. They've able to take away a lot of good information," he said.

Susquehanna Township Police Chief Rob Martin, who is also on the steering committee, said the training underscores the strengths that are always part of good policing - impartiality, respectfulness and fairness.

"We believe going forward the most important thing we can do is build relationships," Martin said. As police show graciousness in their duties, Martin said the hope is it will be reciprocated by the community.

Police officers "are at their finest in moments of physical courage, emotional trauma and use of empathy...We are crisis interventionists," Martin said.

In addition to learning about communication differences among various cultures, avoiding racial profiling is also addressed.

"Our police officers are concerned they are being viewed from that lens at all times - that every decision they make is racially motivated," Umberger said. "I tell our officers 'Perception is reality.' If people perceive you making a decision based on somebody's race, then that will be their reality. You have to work hard when communicating to change that perception," he said.

Adding diversity to departments is also a concern.

Umberger said Swatara Township is "working diligently" to hire more diverse officers, but he said it has been "a very difficult road recruiting minority applicants. It's something we are working very hard on."

To increase the number of minority applicants, Umberger has proposed changes in how the department ranks applicants, and the Swatara Township commissioners are expected to vote on the changes March 11.

The changes will include expanding the list of candidates considered from only the top 20 scorers on the written test to those scoring 80 or higher who also have Act 120 police training. Umberger said they will also start looking more at out of state applicants who have police training.

"We are sure there are qualified applicants out there who are not considering policing as a viable career option for them," Umberger said.

It all goes back to establishing good relationships with youth, he believes. In Swatara Township, he created "Operation School Guardian" to require officers to visit the 10 schools within the department's bounds, talking and eating lunch with students.

Also to improve communications, Umberger said he has formed an eight-member community advisory committee, which will start meeting at the Swatara Township Municipal Building at the end of March.

They will discuss "flash points," as well as how to improve policing by building trust and relationships.

Assisting in the police training is the YWCA's Community Responders Network, a volunteer group that prevent and respond to reports of bias and intolerance, along with the U.S. Department of Justice, the Dauphin County Chiefs of Police Association and the Governor's Advisory Commission on Asian American Affairs.

While the YWCA may be best known for empowering women, providing safe shelter and support for women and children in domestic violence and homeless situations, it has long fought racism.

As a social justice organization, the YWCA's essential role is "confronting all the 'isms' that prevent people from experiencing peace, freedom and dignity," Nixon said.

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